Thane Flamingo Sanctuary

Flamingo Sanctuary In Thane

Almost a decade after initially announcing its intention to create a bio-diversity park along the Bhandup creek and salt pans, the Maharashtra government decided to declare the Thane creek as a Flamingo Sanctuary. (See: TOI, dated June 23, 2015; Maharashtra to declare Thane creek area as 'Flamingo Sanctuary')
The area extending from Bhandup salt pans to Vitawa encompasses some of the most dense and well preserved mangroves in the entire MMR region, after massive mangrove destruction in the Mumbra-Diva-Kalwa belt. 

Ramsar Site
The government will approach UNESCO to also declare the sanctuary a Ramsar site. The Ramsar Convention (formally, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially Waterfowl Habitat) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. After the MoEF officially declares the 17 sq.km area as a sanctuary, it will enable forest department protection to the region and control deforestation and poaching of flamingoes. 

The region is home to thousands of migratory flamingoes, pied avocets, spot-billed ducks, ibises apart from sandpipers, egrets, storks, a variety of kingfishers, plovers, stilts, gulls, curlews, godwits and snipes, to name just a few of the species.

Curlew

Bar-tailed Godwit

Common Greenshank

 

Common Redshank (behind Pied Avocet)

Lesser Plover (extreme left, second and third from left)

Spot-billed Duck

Brown Headed Gull

Black Headed Ibis

 Flamingoes

A small step towards saving the wonders of nature for our future generations